WHAT A SPRING!! After a whirlwind of a regular spring racing season, which found us consistently as the 4th place team in New England, we met our single objective...but before I give the objective away, here is a recap of our regular spring season!
Our first race of the season (at Washington College - our spring training host) was a strong first outing for the team. The varsity 8+ bested the Washington College V8+ by more than 10 seconds and the very young 2V8+ stuck to their race plan and had a solid first outing as well. The novices also raced in the 2V8 event and held their own - the first week on the water for 4 of our new rowers ended in a first race that showed us they were already an important asset to the program.
Our second race was actually a weekend of back to back to back racing! On April 10th, we headed to Tufts to race Wesleyan, Tufts and Bates. This race is a double dual format so each crew had an opportunity to race two other teams on the course. Each boat walked away with a win, as well as some unfinished business and we set our sights on closing in and beating some specific crews for the rest of the spring. The very next day we headed to Worcester to race host WPI, Trinity, Bates, Rochester and Holy Cross. The highlight of the day was the 2V besting DI rival Holy Cross at the line. This was the race that would show New England that our 2V was the crew to beat, but also showed us that we had to make some changes to the V8+ lineup to find more speed. We made those changes going into the next week....let's just say it paid off!
Our third weekend of racing was the NEWMAC Championship, hosted by Clark University - the NEWMAC rowing programs are: Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Clark, WPI, Coast Guard and Wellesley. We certainly raced well! The day started with the Novice 8+, which caught a heartbreaking and boat-stopping crab within the first 250 meters, but they recovered and finished strong - our 2N raced as the 3V and came in 2nd in the field! The 2V won the 2V event and garnered us some major points, and the V8 came in second behind Smith..by .3, yes... POINT 3 seconds. We came in as the runner up in team points again behind Smith. We were recognized by our peer institutions as the team that demonstrated the most sportsmanship and for the 3rd time in 4 years, we won the NEWMAC sportsmanship Award. Kate Spelman '10 and Hannah Dornbusch '10 were named to the NEWMAC All-Conference team and Aidan Chambers '13 was named to the Novice All-conference team.
Our 4th weekend of racing found us back at Tufts at the 3rd Annual Malden Spirit Regatta - with Tufts, Smith and Simmons. Each crew again raced in the double dual format and the crew of the day was the 2V8+. Each of the other boats found success in one race - however that elusive V8+ title was still out there.
Still ranked fourth in New England, we entered the New England Championship Regatta with a little bit of confidence, but knew that we had a LOT of work cut out for us...The 2V8+ again was the crew of the week - dominating in their heat and then coming in a SUPER IMPRESSIVE 3rd place. The V8+ fell 1 spot short of the grand final and did not race to their full potential in the petite final - being eeked out by Mount Holyoke - that stung a bit...but revenge is sweet. The novice 8+ made it to the petite final and raced well and our little 2N again raced up as a 3V8+ crew and held their own on the course.
Our last regular season race was the ECAC National Invitational on 5/9. We knew we had to perform and it was our last shot for the varsity crews. The 2V8+ which had been carrying the team and holding the 4th position in New England, struggled to gain their composure in the heat and only made it as far as the petite final - the V8+ then had the full pressure sitting on their shoulders - we knew that we had to beat Smith, Mount Holyoke and Smith to secure our 4th place team status - having been beaten by each of these crews in the last 3 weeks, we knew it had to be the race of a lifetime....and boy did they stand up to the pressure - in the last 500 they walked through smith, in the last 400 they walked through simmons, in the last 250 they walked through Mount Holyoke and defined Wellesley as the 4th place team in New England....the rest was in the hands of the DIII NCAA Rowing Committee...
5/11 - Selection Tuesday....we all sat on pins and needles all day - and as the first day of finals - it certainly was a tough distraction!! at 3 pm, we gathered in the KSC Classroom to watch the selection video...you can find the team's reaction to earning a TEAM BID TO THE 2010 NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS on the main athletics webpage...i can guarantee you it is worth the watch:) 5/12 found us seat racing and re-arranging our lineups to make sure we had the fastest combinations in the two boats that would represent Wellesley in Sacramento, CA @ NCAAs. We had 2 very productive weeks of double practices leading up to our departure for California!!!
May 26th we left Logan and arrived to a Wellesley greeting at SMF from the Sacramento Alumnae Club....headed straight to the racecourse and got ourselves ready to race. Being alongside the best DI, DII and DIII teams in the country was a little daunting to our very young team - we had 10 first years travelling and 9 racing for Wellesley (yes, the future does look bright). We stood up to the challenge! Surrounded by the greatest fans - Alum from near and far, and parents from near and far - we were ready to race.
In our first round of racing in the morning heats on 5/28 both boats came in third - qualifying the V8 for the grand qualfiying race and the 2V for the petite qualifying race - this is exactly where we wanted to be...and proved that we indeed deserved to be there as a team. The qualifiers in the afternoon did not pan out as we had hoped....the V8 came in 3rd - the top 2 advance to the grand final and the 2V came in 4th - the top 2 advanced to the petite final. That put the V8 in the petite final and the 2V in the third level final for saturday. Saturday (5/29) we headed to the course with one goal in mind...WIN our finals...well.... :) Guess, what...we did! The 2V8 raced first and battled with St. Lawrence all the way down the course, but held on and beat them by 5 seats across the line. Tight, but we KNEW they would pull it off...our little boat of 9 with 6 first years rocked it! The V8 raced second and battled with St. Lawrence - they were down in the first 500, pulled even in the 2nd 500, pulled ahead at the half, 3rd 500 bow to stern, last 250....OPEN WATER by about 3/4 of a length - it was the race of a lifetime for all of these kiddos! They were simply awesome and we celebrated them, the seniors, their parents and our friends at our finish line picnic.
We had one objective - to make it to the NCAA Championship. We went in as the 7th place team in the country and came out as the 5th place team in the country....simply amazing. We said all year - If you want something you have never had, you have to do something you have never done. People thought we were crazy in February, when we had the kids saying "We're going to NCAAs"....well, we all know what happened....
It has been a simply amazing spring. Get ready for even more speed this coming year...we have 9 recruits coming in, all with great experience.
A great many thanks go to so many people - all of our friends and family, to Austin and Regan our assistant coaches, to Bridget Belgiovine, to Jack Daigle to Martha Dietrick to our seniors (Hannah, Kate, Gabby, Joan, Hilary & Laura) and to our captains (Kate Spelman, Hannah Dornbusch and Gabby Wakeman) your leadership is just what this team needed at just the right time.
Have a great summer and see you in the fall!!!
